Powers Fail: Nigerian ‘Witch Doctor’ Lands In US

58-year-old Nigerian man, identified as Christopher Omigie, who is a self-proclaimed witch doctor, has been sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment in a United States federal prison.

He was found guilty of providing drug traffickers with magical and “supernatural” protection after collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars from them.

Omigie, a naturalized US citizen who had been living in Lafayette, Louisiana, was sentenced on April 30, Thursday, in a federal court in Beaumont, Texas.

He was consulted by Mexican members of the Cesar Barrera and David Bazan drug trafficking organizations, based in East Texas, on a daily basis with hopes that his ‘supernatural powers’ would protect them from the authorities.

According to the prosecutors, Omigie carried out card readings, performed massages with ‘magic’ oils, cut off skin with razor blades, used ‘magic’ amulets, belts, coconuts and rocks and applied ‘magic’ powder to the traffickers’ bodies during and after each drug transaction.

The drug traffickers were also required by Omigie to forgo bathing and sexual intercourse following the magic treatments so as not to diminish their potency, all this in a bid to keep Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials away.

All of these treatments came at a high price and still did not work as the Mexican nationals Barrera and Bazan were both arrested and subsequently pleaded guilty to schemes involving the trafficking of more than 1,000 kilograms of cocaine each.

Omigie was sentenced to 14 years in prison by US District Judge Marcia Crone.

Meanwhile, This Day reports that Omigie’s attorney, Jonathan D. Goins in Houston, criticised the US prosecutors for calling his client a “witch doctor”, arguing that Omigie was a respected chief in Nigeria.

“While Mr. Omigie was involved in this drug scheme, he was not a major figure in this, and in fact his involvement was extremely limited and minor,” he added.